OIL GETS DEMOLISHED, DOW FALLS 210: Here's what you need to know

All the major indexes fell more than 1% in trading on Tuesday,
and the blue-chip Dow lost as many as 250 points. Crude oil
cratered to a six-year low.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow:17,402.84,
-212.33, (-1.21%)

S&P
500:2,084.07, -20.11,
(-0.96%)

Nasdaq:5,036.79,
-65.01, (-1.27%)

And now, the
top stories on Tuesday:

China's central bank
devalued the yuan by 2%. The People's Bank of China
set the midpoint of the currency at 6.2298 against the US
dollar – a move that sent the USD/CNY currency pair to the
highest level in almost three years. Authorities have
intervened to bolster a slowing economy and make exports more
competitive. Exports fell 8.9% year-over-year in July.

Major
commodity currencies got slammed. The kiwi and Aussie
dollar each extended losses and fell more than 1%. The Canadian
dollar climbed to as high as $1.3150 versus the USD.

Crude oil collapsed to a six-year low. West Texas
Intermediate crude oil futures fell by up to 5% to as low as
$42.70 in New York. The 12-member oil group OPEC reported,
citing secondary sources, that its output climbed to a
three-year high last month. OPEC has overshot its
production targets for at least a year to maintain market
share.

Analysts love Alphabet. Google shares rallied 5% after the
company announced a major re-organization Monday evening:
Alphabet will become the parent company of Google and will manage
'non-core' products like Google Ventures. Google will consist of
'core' products like YouTube and Android. Most of the
sell-side notes we thumbed through maintained a bullish
outlook on the stock. Analysts say the new structure will bring
greater transparency to the performance of Google's core
products.

Apple
shares tanked 5% and closed at $113.49. The stock is down
14% since the company released earnings results July 21 that
showed disappointing iPhone sales. There were a few downbeat
analyst notes published today. Jefferies lowered its price
target to $130 from $135 due to Apple's exposure to China, amid
the currency devaluation. UBS research showed that there's
"lackluster interest as measured by global [internet] search
activity" for Apple Watch. And, KGI Securities, known for
making accurate product predictions, forecasted flat
or negative iPhone sales growth in the fourth quarter.